Chapter Text
Sam had spent the last two years on the run. It ended when they found Wanda and Vision. The world was in trouble, and only the Avengers could help. He couldn’t deny that Wakanda was beautiful and full of technology that was definitely going to be helpful in this time of intergalactic war, but he hadn’t been in a real war for a long time. Steve and Bucky assured him, however, that everything would come back to him. Rhodey was there for him too, and it was definitely more comfortable being in a war surrounded by veterans and warriors. Oh, and Banner. At first it was just the aliens, which Sam remembered from the broadcasts of the battle of New York, but then the big one showed up. The one Banner had warned the wizard about; Thanos.
Everyone attacked. Sam flew at him, shooting, but the bullets did nothing. Then some sort of laser from the alien’s gauntlet pulsed and his wing suit broke. Sam rolled to the ground and into the foliage, trying to prevent any electrical fires from starting. He didn’t have time or energy to warn Rhodey and Bucky about the lack of damage from gunfire and he watched as Rhodey’s suit was crushed around him and Bucky was thrown backward by purple energy.
All attempts at stopping Thanos failed, one by one, everyone fell. Sam tried to catch his breath, but it felt like knives were caught in his throat. He started crawling away from the chaos, to find a way to recoup and try again. He wasn’t looking anymore but he could hear. The squelch of metal impailing flesh, the heavy breathing of a monster, and Thor’s voice. “I told you, you’d die for that,” he spat. Then another voice, one Sam could only assume was Thanos’. “You should…” he muttered, “You should’ve gone for the head,” and then two pieces of metal hit each other with such force dirt kicked up and leaves rustled. Sam turned from his stomach to his back to look around at his terrified companions. Thanos was gone.
“Where’d he go?” Steve asked. “Thor?” The god breathed heavily, swallowed, then looked down. Sam saw it first, he was closer. Thor’s legs started disintegrating. Confusion took over fear as Thor disappeared into nothing. “Steve?” Bucky asked, and he nodded his head towards his best friend's arm. It too was turning to dust. “Wha-” but Steve didn’t have time to finish. Bucky rushed over to the pile of gray on the floor, and touched it cautiously. “Steve?” he asked again.
Sam slowly started pushing himself up, forcing the destroyed wingsuit off of him. A bushes over, he noticed a Wakandan warrior and the Black Panther. “Up General, up. This is no place to die,” he said, and he grabbed the warrior's arm. But as soon as he did, his grip loosened and his friend faded away. “Okoye?” “T’Challa, something’s happening,” Sam gasped out. “Yes, I noticed,” the king said, still staring at the floor. “Sam!” Sam turned, Rhodey was calling him. “Here, I’m here, I’m alive,” Sam heaved. He clumsily stood up just in time to see his friend disappear, armor and all.
A hand grasped Sam’s shoulder. “Get up, we have to see who else is still alive.” It was T’Challa, helmet now off. Sam pushed himself off the ground. They trudged over to Vision’s body, where Wanda was sobbing. “I did it,” she cried. “I destroyed the stone but he still won!” Sam knelt down to her. The two had become close during training. All of them did, but of course Wanda and Vision were special. Sam knew how much they loved each other, and he also knew that she wished she disappeared. “I know Wanda, I know,” Sam started. He knew the pain of loss and how to help.
“You did everything right, you shouldn’t blame yourself. But I understand why you would. We’ve lost a lot of people today, and none of it is fair. Your pain is something we all share in this moment.” “No,” Wanda sniffed. “No, this is different.” “All grief is different. Everyone has their own way of showing it or healing from it. But you are surrounded by friends and people who have lost a lot today and who share one common goal. To avenge them. You’re an Avenger Wanda.”
Wanda sniffled again. “I am,” she said, voice wobbly. She held Vision’s hand a moment longer, then let Sam help her up. “We have to bury him,” she said. “We will,” Sam promised. T’Challa had left to take a headcount on the battlefield where the Wakandans still were. The alien forces had retreated and Sam could see their ships sailing back into space. Bucky came running out of the tree line soon after Sam and Wanda started their own search for survivors. “We’ve lost Steve, Thor, Natasha, and the Raccoon,” he said.
Another figure came out from behind him. He looked like a tree trunk that had learned to walk. “I am Groot,” it said. “Yeah, he’s Groot,” Bucky confirmed. “What about Bruce,” Sam asked. He nodded over towards the wall the Hulk Buster armor had been phased into. The four heroes ran over and Bucky tore off the face plate with his metal arm. No one was inside. “Damnit” he mumbled. “Rhodey’s gone too, and some warrior,” Sam added, finally remembering. “Okoye,” Wanda added. “That was her name.” “What about T’Challa?” Bucky asked. “Last time I checked,” Sam shrugged. “I am Groot!” The tree said, pointing towards the city. He started running and Bucky and Sam followed after him. Wanda stayed to guard Vision's body.
A group of survivors stood huddled together on the grass, comforting each other. It looked like about half of the warriors were left. T’Challa was higher up, scanning for others. Sam walked to the group of warriors and tried his best to explain what had happened. Then a shouting voice broke his account. “Brother!” it called. Shuri, the scientist working on Vision, ran to T’Challa and embraced him. “Mother is gone!” she cried. “It’s ok Shuri, I am here,” the king whispered. His suit fell away as he held his sister's head closer to his chest. Sam knew he had a lot of talking in his future. Thankfully, or maybe sadly, it was nothing he hadn’t done before.
After a quick reassurance to the warriors, Sam rushed off to T’Challa and Shuri, Bucky and Groot by his heels. Shuri saw them first and pointed them out. T’Challa turned and asked, “Did you find anyone else?” Bucky shook his head. The only person still alive in the forest was Wanda. “Banner said Thanos’ goal was to wipe out half the universe,” Sam gestured towards the huddle. “I think that’s what he did.” T’Challa nodded. “Come with us,” he said. “And get the girl, we are going to give you all safe lodgings.” Shuri looked a little shocked at her brother's statement, but she seemed to agree. Sam went back for Wanda and tried to help her carry his body, but instead she produced a kind of stretcher out of magic and held him herself.
The survivors sat in a war room of sorts inside the castle. It was certainly a room for surveillance, screens lined the walls and a table in the middle projected 3d visuals out of black sand, but around the table was a comfy circular couch that made the presence of the advanced technology a little less overwhelming. Shuri was the only one standing. She raced around the room, scanning social media networks, police radios, and security cameras. The rest of them simply watched the chaos. “We should be out there, helping them,” Sam said. T’Challa nodded slowly, but countered with, “Technically you are a war criminal. It wouldn’t do you much good.” Sam reluctantly agreed. “Will anyone even care about the accords any more?” Bucky asked. “I am Groot,” said Groot. No one knew what to say back.
“I don’t know,” Sam sighed. Then his phone rang, startling everyone. It was an unknown number, but he answered it anyway. “Hello?” “Wilson, thank god,” A voice said, full of relief. Sam vaguely recognized the voice, but it was one he hadn’t heard for nearly two years. “Hill, is that you?” he asked. Wanda and Bucky tilted their heads in recognition. “Yes, yes, oh god, you're alive. Who else is alive, no one is answering Fury’s calls.” Sam filled her in on everything, and Hill seemed to put the phone on speaker because Fury’s voice came over when he finished.
“Do you know where Thanos went?” he asked. “Not yet,” Sam said. Fury made a gruff sounding noise “We’ll keep looking for capable survivors, no one’s heard from Stark, you focus on the extraterrestrial threat.” The call ended, likely not on Hill’s accord. “Shuri, is there any way you can find Tony Stark?” Sam asked, pulling the phone away from his ear. “Well, some good news. I already did.”
A crackly recording was projected on every wall. It seemed to be filmed from a phone camera out of a window. Shuri enhanced the volume so they could hear what was happening twenty stories below the phone, “Hear me and rejoice. You are about to die at the hands of the children of Thanos. Be thankful that your meaningless lives are now contributing to-” “I’m sorry, Earth is closed today,” Tony’s voice interrupted. “You better pack it up and get outta here.” The footage cut and a different video played focusing on central park. A behemoth alien was fighting Iron Man while Banner did his best job hiding behind a tree. Then a masked figure Sam recognised swung in out of nowhere and caught the alien’s weapon.
The video cut again and this time the footage was out of a school bus window and in selfie mode. “You guys, this is absolutely insane!” the kid filming exclaimed. “This spaceship just landed in New York and now Tony Stark, Iron Man, and some Magicians are fighting aliens!” The camera turned to see the circular spaceship Sam knew all too well blast into the sky, and the red of two superheroes hanging on. “Look, there he is!” the kid pointed to Iron Man flying after the quickly ascending spaceship. The footage cut again and didn’t start back up.
“I don’t know how we are going to get up there in time,” Shuri said defeatedly. “You guys don’t have a spaceship readily available?” Bucky asked. Shuri rolled her eyes. “No, ingcuka. Wakanda may have the most advanced technology on Earth, but not in the universe!” “I am Groot!” Everyone turned to look at the tree trunk who smiled. “Anyone happen to speak that?” Sam asked. Wanda stood up. “No, but I can see what he’s thinking.” She reached her hand out and produced a burst of red smoke. It floated up to Groot's head and he seemed to accept it.
A moment later, Wanda recced back to her seat. “His friends can find him,” she said. “They’re space travelers, they’ll get a distress signal.” There was silence except for the videos Shuri was still analyzing, trying to get a count of how many people had disappeared. Finally, Sam broke it, “Then I guess the only thing we can do is wait.”